Art of distilling carbonaceous materials



F. PUENING ART oF DISTILLING cARBoNAcEoUs MATERIALS Filed Feb. 1 14.; 192.?y

Jan. 8, 1929;'

Patented Jan. 8,i 1929.

FRANZ PUNING, lOF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

PATENT oFF Aar or DISTILLING cemaonacnous lausanne.

Application led February 11iv 1922. r Serial No. 585.7%.

This invention relates tothe art of distil-A ling carbonaceous material, such as lignite,`

shale, peat or bituminous coal. An object of the invention is to effect the distillation of such material atlow -temperatures, with a rapid transfer of the di'stilling heat to the ma'- terial being distilled, and without any necessity for employing theexpensive heating sur-l faces vheretofore required because ofthe slovi7 and ine-licient heat transfer of prior lo'vs7 "ftemperuture distillation practice. The'inf jventfiontherefora provides an entirely 4satisv factory low temperature distillatiomand yet eliminates expensive retort constructions, with their attendant high cost lof maintenance;

Inaddition the general objects recited above, the invention has for further objects such other improvements and advantages in paratusfor carrying out the vimproved lofw temperature distillation of the present invention, but without-limiting the. claimed in- `vention rspecifically to" such illustrative stance:

' Ihefigure illustrates a diagrammatic representation ofA apparatus suitable. for" practicing low temperature distillation of materials according to the resent invention.

Inits resent embv iment, thejinvention is applie to the lowtemperatu're distillation of bituminouscoal. Forconvenience, the ensuing description will befconlined to this lappli'cation of the invention. The novel -fe'a ltures and improvements of the invention are, however, applicable to the distillation', 'of

other carbonaceous material, for example, to

tive example.

In Carrying out the invention, there are employed, as the medium for eectingfthe transfer of theidistilling heat to the material to be distilled, smallbodies of a substance of high enough heat conductivity to eifect 4va 5rapid` transfer ofthe distilling vheat to the material to bedistilled.` It is preferable, however, to employ metal heat vtransfer bodies', iron, in any one of its several forms, being es ecially suitable because of lits great specinc weight, vits high heat conductivity, its good wearing quahties, its resistance to de teriorationl when subjected to rapid temperature ychanges] and the influence of hot gases,

because ofvits cheapness. The` and lastly,V

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invention, however, is not' limited to the employment of iron asthe material for the heat transferbodies.. In form, t-he. heat transfer bod1es maybe inthe shape .of bricks, pebbles, balls, slabs', plates, cubes, or any other formor'shape as may be best suitableto meetA f the exigencles of the commerciall practice of These heat transfer bodies areexposed to the invention.

the action 'of hot ases to `store in them the lheat which is su sequently employed Afor effecting the distillation of' the material. Any` hot gases ma b e employed, provided that'they .are not o such a natureas to read` ily injure theheat transfer bodies.' In'any cas'e, the temperature to which the, heat transslstanceof the material of which'they are composed to oxidize or be phere of' Well burned ex sing the'iron to eterioration.

surface temperature ofv1400". F., distillation 'fer bodies may be heated is limited by the -reotherwise impaired vof the coal'niay be efe'ctedby bringing-the.

coal into direct contact with such hot heat transfer bodies. -The coal to be distilled may 'be either at ordinaryatmospheric temperature, rior to the time of contactwith the heat I l s ired. -At the moment of contact, coal quick- I ly absorbs the eak of the heat stored inthe Vany of the other materials hereinabove mem" tioned; hence, the4 scope of the invention is not confined to the .specific use and specific embodiment herein described as an illustrasurface of the eat transfer'body and inthe portions ofjsuch body just below its surface.

trans er bodies', or may be preheated,l if de'- loo!l coke-is formed on the coal, thereby -peimitting ready sepration of the coal from the heattransfe'r dies'at the com letionof the distillation o eration. As the ieat transfer from the b ies to' thevcoal ro esses, the

v; liowof heat into the coal dilmnis es in rate,

" alongiwith'the approach of the coal and thc heat transfer bodies into an equilibrium of temperature. In order to avoid an impractiries, of course, with different coals and with -the other materials available for treatment b the distillation process of the invention.

or man `of such materlals, however, a' satisfactory' nal temperature is approximately a thousand degrees F. andthe process of low t'm rature distillation would be completed at t at temperature.' It requires about400 B. t. u. per pound of material, in order to heat commercial grades of bituminous coal vto a final temperature of a "thousand degrees F. Inlorderrto attain such 'a final temperature, a maximumtemperature drop of the iron heat 1 transfer bodies from 1400 F. to'a thousandV de es F. is available. Between 14100ov F.

an a. thousand degrees F iron, for example, has a specific heat of approximately 0.148.

l Therefore, (11100-1000) X 0.148=59 B. t. u. are freed for absorption by the coal, when one' pound of iron'drops' from 1400" F. to a thouees F..l lIna'smuch as400 B. t. u. are

sand de require for one pound of coal, 400 'divided i by 59'equals 6.77 pounds of iron which are rev quired to furnish sulicient heat for elevating one pound of coal to a final ,temperature of l approximately 1,0009F. In order to compensate for the slowin .down ofthe heat transfer,

5 retical minimum, which would be approxi.-y

as aboveexplaine ,itis preferable to em loy' ap roximately twice'a's much iron as thet eomatel'yfli/ unds of `iron for each pound of coal to. 'stlled@ The far greater weight of iron per unit volume; as compared with the same vol-'time .ofvcoalmakes the relative volumes of thetwo materials quite capable of being handled practically.A AFor example, bi-

on with asmaller -tuminous coal vveighs approximately 5.0A

pounds per ,cubicV foot.' One square foot of coal of one inch thickness would therefore weigh only 4.17 pounds. e This coal mightl be. brought into contact with-a square foot. of hot iron, the latter weighing fourteen timesvv as much as thecoal or a total'o'f 582 pounds.

An iron plate one foot square of thesame weight has anv approximate thickness of only one and one-half inches.'

By preheatmg ,the coalor dryingjit before bringing the coalinto4 contact with the hot iron, the amount of heat required'for the'dis-l tillation process maybe materially red.u ce d,.,

This wouldpermit the process'tobe-carried iantity of iron. Even whenpreheating of t e preferable to employ enough iron 1n' order proximatel coal is employed,it is and further coal distillation.

that the heat available, for distillation be about twice the amount of the theoretical minimum. I

Referring to the drawing: The iron heat transfer bodies may be heated up in the furnace 1. The gases employed for heating the iron bodies enter'the furnace throuvh inlet 2 at the bottom and discharge from the top lof the furnace through the stack 3. The furnace 1 may be any chamber in which theiron heat transfer bodies, are subjected to the direct heating effect of the gases, and in said furnace the bodies are heated to a-temperature of ali-,

nace 1, being fed by Jtherotary discharger 4 through a conduit "5 which carries and de- 1400 F. The `heated irony bodies disc large from the .bottom-of the fur- 80 posits said bodies onto the upper reach of a traveling belt conveyor 6. "The conveyorv 6 is located within an enclosed chamber 7.

Mounted abovey said chamber 7 is a hopper 8 for the coal. Thelower end of said v hopper communicates with a conduitV 9 positioned' adjacent to the before-mentioned conduit 5 and the coal is dischar ed through said conduit 9 by the rotary ischarger 10, so that the coal drops onto the receiving end of the traveling belt. conveyor 6 and intermingles with the heated iron bodies dischargedonto v said conveyor from thenconduit 5. It is pref? erable to pulverize the coal before subjecting itto contact with the heated bodies. The belt conveyor 6 advances the mixture of coal and heated bodies across the chamber 7 and said mixture then drops from the discharge end'of the belt conveyor 6 onto the receiving end of another belt conveyor 411 positioned below 'the belt conveyory 6. In the transfer of thev v material from the conveyor' to the conveyor 11 a further intermin'gling of the articles of coal with theheated bodies is e ected. By

the conveyor 11, the mixture of coal and heated bodies is advanced in reverse direction in the chamber 7 and is discharged `from the discharge end of the conveyor 11 l onto an inclined grate 12 upon which a separation of the coal lfrom the heat transfer bodies is effected.

As the mixture passes down the inclined grate 12, the coal falls through the interstices of the, grate into a hopper 13 from which the distilled coal may be recovered as desired. If

ldesired the. separation of thecoal from the heatV transfer bodies may be assisted b bratingy the grate 12. The products o distillation discharge fromV the,V chamber. 7`

through the distillate outlet pipe 14.V After the heat transfer bodies leave the grate 122.,`

.they pass into a conduitl, through which they are advanced by rotary disehar er 16 toy l the Vlower end of an elevator 17 .l

he "ele-v vato'r lifts the'heat transfer bodies sodiS-,A- 'u charged and deposits them into a spout 18 through 'which they again pass into the upper end of the vfurnace .1 for further heating .ferred to the coal. are of Very cheap material and large numbers e o f them may be employed.- Consequently the By the invention, the distillation of c'arbonaceous material is carried on at avery rapid rate. The heat is ap lied tothe same surfaces-from which itis su sequently trans- The heat transfer bodies qantity of heat transfer bodies may be adequately proportioned vfor the `distillation of any required weight o f carbonaceous material and an intimate mixture of the two is economically possible.. When distilling coal,

the coke' produced in accordance with the present'invention separates readily from the surfaces of the heat transfer bodies, the troubles arising from sticking 0f the distilled material in low temperature distillations heretofore practiced being practically elim- The invention as hereinabove set forth may be variously embodied -within Vthe scope of the claims hereinafter made.

l. The improvement inthe art of distilling solid distillable carbonaceous material which consists in effecting the entire distillin g operation by' means of heat stored in solid heatstoring bodies by bringing the material into contact with solid heatestoring bodies con- 4stituting a heattransfer medium previously heated out of contact withthe carbonaceous material undergoingtreatment to a tempera- .ture great enough to effect the carbonization of the material by transfer thereto'of part of its stored heat; substantially as specified.

2. The improvement in the art of distilling solid distillablecarbonaceous material which consists in effecting th'eentire distilling operation by means 'of heatfstored insolid heatstoring lbodies by. bringing the material into Contact with metallic solid. heat-storing bodies constituting heat-transfer mediufnpreviously heated out-of contact withthe car.

bonaceous material undergoing treatment to a temperature great enough to effectthe carbonization of the material by transfer thereto of part-of its stored hea t;.substantiallyi as.

specified. J

3. yThe improvement in the art of distilling solid distillable carbonaceous-material which.

consists in 'effecting the entire distilling opera'-v tion by means of heat stored in solid heat" storing bodies bybringing the material into contact with an iron heat transfermeans previously heated out of contact with the carbonaceous material undergoing treatment to al temperature Egreat enoughjto effect. the carbomzation of the material -by transfer thereto of '-part of its stored'f heat; lsubstantially as specifed. v- .A

4; 'The improvement in the art of low tem;

. perature distilling of coal which consists in storing heat `in iron solid bodies, bringing the coal into contact with said" bodies to effect a heat transfer therebetween and maintainmg the-coal in contacttlierewith until carbonizedl bysuch stored heat thereby distilling the coal,

removing Athe distilled coal froml said bodies, and then reheating said bodies for effecting further distillation; substantially as specified.

5. The improvement in the art of-low temperature 'distilling of'solidl distillable carbonaceous material which consists in storing in iron solid bodies sufficient heat to complete '6; The improvement in the art of heating solid distillable carbona'ceous material toa y 1final temperature which consists in effecting i a heat transfer between such material and an.

iron body previously heated toa temperature great enoughto give ofi' approximately'twice the required heat when the iron bodyis cooled,

during the heat transfer operation, to the required final temperature of the material.; sub! stantially as specified. l

7 The improvement in the art of low temperature-cQking of solid distillable carbona- `ceous material which consists in lheating a solid heat-storing means constituting a heat transfernedium out of contact with material Lundergoing treatment to a heatgreat. enough to effect the coking operation, and/thereafter bringing the material to b'e coked intocontact' with the same heat transfer medium, and coking thesame by the heat that was stored in y said mediumprevious to its being brought into contact with said material; whereby the gases evolved in the distillation are prevented,

from mixing with the gases employed in heating the vheat transfer medium 5- substantially 10. 8. The improvement in the fart of distillai as specified.h

tionl of coal whichl consists in effecting a heat transfer lbetween the Vcoal` and iron bodies heated toa temperature, substantially11400- f F., the weight ofthe iron bodies ,in excess of that of the 'coal being such that the 'heat storedin said iron bodiesabove the vrequiredl temperature of the coal is .approximately twice the amount required for bringing the coal to the required final temperature; substantially as specified.

- 9. The improvement 1n the art ofdistillingv solid distillable carbonaceous material which yconsists in hea-ting solic", heattransfer bodies,4 in a furnace to store in said 'solid bodies the heat to effect `auch distillation, transferringsaid heat transfer bodies to a distillin chamv ber and in said distilling chamber a mixing with them the carbonaceous material to be distlled, carbonizing 'said'mat'erial bythe heat stored in said bodies by maintaining saidy solid bodies and carbonaccous material in advmixture until said material is carbonized mainlyiby heat previously stored in said bodies in said furnace; then separating the distilled carbonaceous material from the heat transfer bodies, and transferring the thus separated bodies back to the furnace for further heating.; substantiall as specified;

10. Theimp'rovement in t e art of distillino' solid distillable carbonaceous 'material which consists 1n heating solid, heat-transfer bodies-in a furnace to store in said solid bodi ies the heat to e'ectfsuch distillation, :trans- 'ferring said heat transfer bodies to a distilling chamber and in said distilling chamber admixing with them th'e carbonaceous material to be distilled,l carbonizing said material by the heat stored in said bodies by maintaining said solid bodies and carbonaceous material in -admixtu're until said material is carbonized mainly'byheat previously, stored in said bodies in said furnace; then separating the distilled carbonaceous material from the heat transferbodies, transferring :the thus separated' bodies backV to the furnace'for further heating, and effecting separate discharge of the gases from the furnace and the distilling chamber; substantially as specified. Y

ling solid distillab'le carbona'ceous materials which consists in storing heat in-solid bodies jconstituting a heat transfer medium, and distillingthe material vto effect its vcarbonization lby stored heat-by bringing it into contact and maintaining it 1n contact with said medium until -carbonized toV el'ect its carbonization by a heat transfer to said material of heat.

stored in said medium; substantially as speci- I fied.

12. Thev improvement in the art of carbonizing' solidldistillable carbonaceous materials 11. The improvementvin the art of distil,v

which consists in storing heat in solid bodies constituting a heat transfer medium, and carbonizing the material by 'bringing it intocon- -tactand maintaining it in contact with said medium until carbonizcd toetect its carbonii stored in said medium by effecting a transfer between it and said coal of heat stored in said medium; substantially as specified;

14. The improvement in the art of coking coal which consists in-storing the heat for efecting the coking in solid bodies constitutingl a-heat transfer medium;- and effecting the entire coking operation by stored heat by causing' a transfer between thecoal and said j' medium of` the coking heat stored insaid -"medium, substantially as specified.

1 5. A process ofdistillation ofy solid distillable carbonaceous material, particularly for-low temperature carbonization, compris ing: previously heating solid bodies outside of a distilling chamber to the requisite tem# perature to eiect carbonizing distillation in said chamber; introducing the so heated solid bodies and a charge of solid distillablecar- ',bonaceous material into the distilling chamber; imparting heat to the charge in the distilling chamber by contact ofsaid charge with said .solid bodies therein, said solid bodies being used in such volume as to effect the carbonizing distillation; and thereafter separating thesolid bodies from the carbonaceos matter distilled.

Inv testimony whereof Ihave hereunto set my hand.

' FRANZ rUInaING.` 

